Friedman Industries Inc., Houston, reported net sales of $94.1 million in its third quarter, a decrease of 18.9 percent compared with the same quarter in 2023. Through three quarters, net sales of $315.4 million were down 17.9 percent.
The distribution company reported a net loss of $1.2 million in the quarter, a reversal from the $1.2 million in earnings in the third quarter of 2023. For the year to date, the company posted net earnings of $740,000, down from $12.4 million through the first three quarters of Fiscal Year 2023.
“We continued to experience challenging conditions during the third fiscal quarter,” said Michael Taylor, president and CEO. “Our margins were adversely affected by continued industry-wide pricing pressure and sales volume was dampened by political uncertainty and the holidays,” said Michael Taylor, president and CEO.
The company’s flat-roll product segment sales for the 2024 quarter totaled approximately $86.1 million compared with $106.4 million for the 2023 quarter. The flat-roll segment had sales volume of approximately 105,000 tons from inventory and another 18,000 tons of toll processing, down modestly from the 110,000 tons from inventory and 22,000 tons of toll processing for the 2023 quarter.
Tubular product segment sales for quarter totaled approximately $7.9 million, down from $9.6 million in the prior-year quarter. Sales volume for both the 2024 quarter and the 2023 quarter was approximately 8,000 tons, with the average per ton selling price decreasing from approximately $1,164 per ton to approximately $1,013 per ton.
“On an encouraging note, our sales order activity surged following the presidential election and our latest commercial initiatives. We have seen continued strength in new order activity. At quarter-end, our sales backlog volume was 11 percent higher year over year. I remain confident in the long-term outlook for our industry, and I believe Friedman is well-positioned for success,” Taylor concluded.